Better Than You Are
by xxPurpleStars3xx
Summary: Dwayne Banks-Conway is now a Pee Wee hockey player. Since he is the adopted son of 2 Mighty Ducks, everyone expects him to be better than he is. Spin off of "Hockey?"


**Disclaimer: I don't own The Mighty Ducks or Raisin Bran.**

Dwayne Banks-Conway stumbled in through the door from his Pee Wee hockey practice. Adam had just picked him up from practice driving home from his _own_ Anaheim Ducks practice. Dwayne was eleven, and his parents had finally put him in the hockey league last year after he had asked. He was a better skater and better player now.

"I'm just gonna go put my stuff away, and then I'll meet you and Dad for dinner down here," Dwayne told Adam.

"Okay," Adam said and kissed his son on the top of his head. "I'm gonna go check on your father."

As Adam went into the open kitchen and kissed his husband on the lips, Dwayne ran upstairs and put his bag next his closet across from his bed. His room wasn't big or small. It was a normal size. He lived in a two-story house. Two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and it was perfect to all three of the Banks-Conway men.

Dwayne put his stuff down and started taking off the sweaty clothes and changing into something cleaner. His uniform was probably stinky by now from all the sweat.

"Dwayne, dinner time!" Charlie called from the stairs. "It's burgers!"

At the mention of Dwayne's favorite food, he ran downstairs, and stopped just before he got to the table. Whenever it was burgers, there was something his parents wanted to talk to him about.

"What's going on?" he asked as he sat down across from his parents and grabbed a burger from the plate. He grabbed the pickles, tomatoes and ketchup from the table. "Something's going on."

"So, you remember how a couple of months ago Guy and Connie were talking about possibly moving here with Julie?" Charlie said, grabbing a burger and putting it on his plate.

Dwayne's smile lit up. Julie was his best friend (and the girl he had a crush on, though he'd never admit it). Dwayne was friends with all of his father' teammates' kids. He just had a special bond with Julie. He didn't know why, but they were such great friends together. And that's why when she had mentioned the fact that they might be moving to California six months ago, in May, he had immediately lit up. Right now, they lived in Colorado, and although they loved it, they all decided that they needed a change of scenery, somewhere closer to one of the Ducks.

"Are they moving here?" Dwayne said excitedly.

"Actually, they're moving right next door. Starting tomorrow," Adam answered, smiling and taking a bite of his burger.

His own burger all forgotten, Dwayne got up and shouted, "WHAT?! Why didn't she tell me?"

"She was sworn to secrecy by her parents last week not to tell you. Because, come on, we _all_ know neither of you can keep a secret, _especially_ if it's from each other."

"What time are they coming?"

It was a Saturday in the middle of November. Dwayne didn't know why her parents would move in the middle of the school year, but no matter what, Dwayne was ecstatic that his best friend would live next door to him.

"Nine in the morning tomorrow," Charlie said, eating a French fry. "Eat your burger. I didn't make these just because I wanted to. It's a celebration. Later we're going to Dairy Queen."

Dwayne couldn't stop the smile that grew on his face. It didn't stop through dinner, or ice cream, or the shower he took that night where he found bruises on his body. He was used to the bruises by now. He was checked all the time. He was getting hit by so many other players in their team games.

"_We just expect a lot out of you," Coach Henson said._

He thought about this as he got into bed at eleven o'clock. He wanted to be rested for when he greeted his best friend and her parents tomorrow. No doubts his fathers were ecstatic that they were going to see their own best friends tomorrow.

Dwayne knew people expected a lot out of him. He _was_ after all the son of two Mighty Ducks, who had both played in the Minors and now Adam played for the Anaheim team and Charlie coached Minor league. People necessarily didn't expect a lot out of him in school. Both his parents were average students, but both were amazing on the ice. He knew being the son of two Mighty Ducks had its downfalls, and this was one of them.

_No doubt all the other Duck kids get it too_, he thought as he fell asleep. Every single of the other Ducks' kids were in hockey too. Either their parents forced them into it, or they wanted to play. Either way, all of them loved it.

**Line break!**

Dwayne got up at eight o'clock, quickly got dressed Charlie's old green Ducks jersey and jeans and ran down the steps to see Adam and Charlie reading the newspaper and eating cereal. He quickly grabbed a bowl and the box of cereal.

"Calm down there," Charlie said as Dwayne poured the cereal rapidly into the bowl and then poured the milk the same way. "Slow down. Don't give yourself a stomachache."

"Dad," Dwayne said with his mouth full of Raisin Bran, "I'm trying to be ready for when Julie comes in less than an _hour_!"

Adam and Charlie looked at the amazing son they had adopted ten years ago when he was one. They smiled at each other, remembering how they would act that way around a crush.

Hey, it's what Guy did whenever Connie came over to his house before they were together.

"Well, she'll still be here when you're finished—" Adam was cut off by the sound of a doorbell being rung.

There were smiles among the three and they all raced to the door. They were fighting each other to open it.

"Just open the damn door!" Guy yelled.

Adam finally got to the lock and unlocked the door.

"Don't need to yell," Adam said as he opened the door to see his blonde and brown-haired teammates and their little blond daughter.

Adam immediately embraced Guy as Connie ran to Charlie and Julie and Dwayne hugged.

"You're early!" Charlie said as he led the family that he hadn't seen in so long into the living room. "About thirty minutes."

"Well, we couldn't wait any longer," Connie said, hugging Adam as Guy and Charlie hugged. The two sets of parents then hugged the eleven year old that was not theirs.

"You've grown so much since we last saw you," Connie said to Dwayne. "It's been, what, five years?"

"Just about," Adam confirmed. "We have him in Pee Wee now."

"He getting beat up a lot? Julie's in Pee Wee and, you know, she's the product of two Mighty Ducks…" Guy trailed off, sitting on the Banks-Conway couch.

Adam and Charlie looked at their son as if questioning him. They'd never heard him say anything. They never even _thought_ about their son getting beat up more than any of the other kids.

"Nope. Not more than any of the other kids," Dwayne lied. He then turned to his best friend. He grabbed her hand. "Come on, I wanna show you my room."

As the two middle schoolers ran up the steps to Dwayne's room, the four adults sat in various furniture throughout the living room.

"Do you believe it?" Adam asked Charlie.

"Not for a second," Charlie answered.

**Line break!**

As the adults downstairs were talking, Dwayne and Julie ran into Dwayne's room. Julie looked around the room and smiled at the quaint room with the band posters and various family pictures around the room. She looked at the hockey gear on the floor.

"It's so much better than I imagined," she said. "Can't wait to see my room."

"I can't believe we just talked three days ago and you didn't _tell me_!"

"I couldn't." Julie shrugged. "They said I couldn't if I wanted to see you the day we moved in. It was supposed to be a surprise for you. I kind of figured that Uncle Adam and Uncle Charlie told you last night."

"True, they did," Dwayne agreed and smiled at his crush. They sat on his bed, the green duvet still unmade. "So, you get beat up a lot in hockey too, huh?"

"I _knew_ you got beat up, too!" Dwayne shushed her. "Well, it's no big secret that us kids of the Mighty Ducks get so many more injuries because…well…our parents are the Mighty Ducks."

Dwayne looked down and played with his hands. He tried not to move his arms too much. He had found four bruises there the night before.

"It's just," he started, "they all expect me to do great things. _To be better_ than I am. They expect that just because Charlie Conway and Adam Banks are my parents, I'm immediately going to be this insane hockey legend that's going to be as great as Wayne Gretzky."

"I know," Julie said. "I get that too. And so do Connie Reed and Guy Mendoza and every one of us that's in hockey. It's really unfair how just because of our parents, _that's_ our life. _That's_ who we're going to be labeled as the rest of our lives. What if we don't live and breathe hockey and want to play in the pros like your parents do?"

"I love hockey, I really do. Playing Pee Wee is awesome and I love showing off to my parents what I can do. I can even do the Triple Deke, but sometimes it feels like it's not enough."

Connie and Guy had decided that they'd better start unpacking, because there was a lot, and they needed their daughter for that. So the four Ducks headed upstairs, when they heard their kids' voices.

"It'll never be enough for the coaches," Julie responded. "Connie's got this _really_ good shot, but the coaches want her to make _at least_ four out of the five she makes. She can make one out of five as Uncle Fulton does. And Uncle Dwayne's kid, Charlie, he's playing and they expect him to pull out a rope any second. If they even _see_ a rope on him, like if he brings it from rodeo practice or something, they take it away!"

Dwayne and Julie sighed. The adults outside didn't know any of this. They didn't know how hard the coaches were on their kids because their parents were International winners.

"When I don't score a goal or I'm about to block a goal or something and don't, I feel like I'm letting my whole team down. Um, remember how Bombay once told us that my dad's old coach, Coach Reilly, said during his finals that if he didn't make the goal for the win that he was letting his whole team down?" Charlie said to Julie. Julie nodded. "That's how it feels. Everybody expects me to be this great, big, tremendous player, and I can't. I just _can't_. Just because I'm not as good as my parents doesn't mean that I'm not good. I'm plenty good, it's just…I'm too focused on being good _enough_ that it's hard to actually be _good_ in the first place."

"We're having a discussion with those coaches at tomorrow's practice," Charlie told Adam, who nodded. "I'd _never_ do that to somebody's kid."

Julie and Dwayne heard voices outside their door.

"Mom?" Julie called. "Dad?"

"Dad? Daddy?" Dwayne asked. Dwayne hadn't called Adam "Daddy" in months. And when he _did_, it had been in the comfort of his own house. He called Adam "Dad" like he did Charlie. The other times it had even been "Father" or "Papa" or even "Dad" when Charlie wasn't around. Adam responded to each other these, never knowing which one his son was going to call him that day or time.

The four adults sighed and let themselves in. Each pair of parents going to their respective kid.

"I'm sorry that's happened to you," Connie apologized, smoothing her daughter's blonde hair out of her face. "I know it's not fair. It's not fair." She held her daughter's face in her chest as the little girl started crying.

"Dads?" Dwayne said to Charlie and Adam, his fathers hugging him on either side, making it a Banks-Conway sandwich.

"We're having a talk with that coach," Charlie said. "You're good enough as it is. You don't need to show off or do fancy tricks or something like that."

"Just be you. Just play _your_ best," Adam continued.

"You know," Guy said, sitting between Adam, who was on his right, and Julie on his left, "you kids already have a lot of pressure on you. They think you should play in the pros. That you should follow in your parents' footsteps. Just because your parents are your parents and their best friends are Ducks too, doesn't mean that _all_ of you have to be as wonderful as we were or go onto be in the minors or pros."

"Do you still want to play hockey? Because if you don't, we can pull you," Charlie told Dwayne.

"I love hockey, Dad, it's just I get even _more_ beat up than the other kids." Dwayne pulled up his long sleeved shirt and showed the bruises from the previous night. The adults and Julie gasped. "These are from last night."

"Even _I_ don't get them that bad," Julie responded. Dwayne moved brown hair out of his chocolate brown eyes, showing that tears were starting to form. She turned to her parents. "I don't want to play in this league if _that_ happens. I mean, I get it too, but still, that's bad."

"Come on, let's get you some ice," Adam said, leading his son out of his room and bringing him down to the kitchen.

Charlie and the Germaine clan sat on the green comforter, watching the Anaheim Duck walk away with his overly bruised son.

**Line break!**

Adam sat Dwayne on a chair and went to grab some ice from the freezer. He put it in a bag and held the bag on Dwayne's right arm. Dwayne moved back a little and Adam apologized.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Dwayne's father's voice sounded hurt.

"I'm sorry," Dwayne cried. "I didn't want you to think anything was wrong."

"Does everybody check you? Nobody checks you _that_ bad in games."

"You would think that they wouldn't do it during practice, but it's 'to toughen me up and make me better' coach says. Games are only not too bad because you and Dad are there, and nobody wants to check me _hard_ when two of the Ducks are there. They like to act like you two are scouts, especially you, since you went pro."

Adam sighed and moved the ice to the other arm. He hated that his kid got checked so hard. Of course, he got hurt the most while on the Ducks. He almost got a concussion back in the Championship when he was ten, he hurt his wrist during the Junior Goodwill Games when he was twelve, he got hurt a lot in the minors and pros because he was a Duck, it just kept coming.

"You know, it takes time for you to get better. I practiced _hours_ after games and practices, during weekends, whenever I had free time for years, Hawk or Duck. Your father took years to be where he was. It takes everyone years to be as good as they are. You've only been playing for three years. And when coaches think you're supposed to be as good as your fathers were when they were ten and twelve and fourteen when you're eleven is just terrible," Adam said.

"See, but you were ten! You were twelve and rocked in the Goodwill Games and were good enough to make Varsity freshman year of high school! They expect me to be _that_ good a player! They expect me to be captain like Dad."

Adam took the ice away from his son's arm and put it in the sink. He took his almost sobbing son into his arms. He never meant for this to happen. If he'd known that putting his and his husband's kid in hockey would amount to _this_, he didn't know if he'd redo it. Dwayne loved hockey, he played it all the time, whether he was playing street with his friends or in practice. Adam and Charlie knew that he would be as great as them one day, but that would be in years. He'd only been playing a little while. Plus, he didn't have the Minnesota Miracle Man as a coach. Bombay really was the best in Pee Wee, and that's why the Banks-Conway men were so good.

"I'm sorry," Adam apologized, rubbing his hand up and down Dwayne's back.

Charlie had come down and joined his son and husband in a hug.

"We're sorry. We didn't think this would happen when we put you in the league," Charlie said to the now crying eleven year old.

"I want to stay in it, but I just don't want to get more checks than anybody else," Dwayne said.

Adam looked up and saw that the Germaine's were leaving. He waved goodbye, and they waved back and mouthed they'd be back later. Right now, they had to get their house ready, and they needed to talk to their daughter, too. He pulled away from his son, as did Charlie. He wiped Dwayne's tears, tears in his own eyes.

"You certainly have my luck then," Adam laughed. "I got hurt the most. Not like any of the other Ducks will let me forget it."

"Yep, somehow you passed your luck onto your son," Charlie joked.

Dwayne knew they weren't talking biologically, though they always joked about him being their biological child. He had known he had been adopted since he was six. It sometimes bothered him and upset him—which he didn't let his fathers see—that his birth parents didn't want him or that maybe something happened to them that couldn't be explained. But he knew that he wouldn't trade his life in for the world now. He belonged with his dads, and that was that.

"Somehow, Dad. I don't know how, but you did," Dwayne said.

"Here's what we're gonna do," Charlie said, turning his son around, "we're going to talk to the coach and tell him that he's wrong, that you should get better on your own time. That you shouldn't be trying so hard to be us. If you're going to play, you're going to be you. Not me, not your father or any of the other Ducks."

"What if he doesn't go for it? I don't want to quit."

"Well, then we'll find some other way," Adam commented. He brought back the ice and Charlie got out another bag. They each put a different bag on a different arm, Charlie taking the right arm since he was a lefty, and Adam taking the right.

"I love you guys so much."

"We love you too," Charlie said. He and Adam each gave him a kiss on a different cheek. Dwayne pretended he didn't like it, but he really always loved it when his fathers did that. "Did Julie go next door?"

"Yes, but they'll be back once they get boxes out of their car and getting settled into their house," Adam said. He pulled back and saw some of the bruises were getting better. "So, give it a few hours. We'll call them up and see if they want to go to dinner."

"Dads?" Dwayne asked.

"Yeah?" his fathers unisoned.

"Thanks. For everything."

"You're welcome," they chorused again.

Yep, it was a long road ahead for Dwayne to be just as good as his fathers, to be as good as the coach wanted him to be, but he knew with his dads, Julie, and Uncle Guy and Aunt Connie there, it would be worth it.

**Whoo! Loved this story! So, I hoped you guys liked it too, I'm not so sure of it though, but I like it!**


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